News
Delays likely for 16 weeks as work begins on Roundhill Tunnel access road
Posted by editor on Sep 10, 2009 - 09:05 AM
Filed under: Transport, News
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Drivers
who use the Alkham Valley slip road to get onto the A20 will be faced
with a 7 mile diversion from Monday.
Work to build a new access road to the main service building for Roundhill Tunnel on the A20 near Hawkinge is due to start on Monday (14 September) and the London-bound entry slip road at the junction will be closed for 16 weeks. The new road will be built alongside the Alkham Valley entry slip road and will make access to the service building safer and less disruptive. New driver safety barriers will also be installed along the slip road and on the verge of the A20. During the closure, traffic that would join the A20 at this junction will be diverted along Alkham Valley Road to the A260 Canterbury Road and onto the coastbound A20. From there, drivers should leave the A20 at the B2011 interchange where they can rejoin the London-bound A20. The diversion will be fully signed and will add approximately 7 miles (11km) to journeys. For two weeks toward the end of the work, there will also be a single lane closure and temporary 50mph speed limit on the main carriageway of the London-bound A20. John Burns, Highways Agency Route Performance Manager for Kent, said: “The new access route and safety barriers will provide safety benefits for road users, and will also increase the resilience of Roundhill Tunnel by protecting its main service building. “We have planned the work carefully to limit delays, though drivers who normally use this slip road to access the A20 are advised to allow a few extra minutes for their journey while the diversion is in place.” The slip road is expected to re-open in mid December. |
© Hawkinge Gazette and Channel Coast News 2009
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Comments
I think a lot of people will need to add more than just a few minutes to their journey...I live in Alkham and have to go in to Folkestone most days to work. The first morning of the closure caused tailbacks along Alkham valley road putting 40 minutes on my travel time. This could be 16 weeks of major inconvenience for a lot of people who need to use this route on a daily basis. It's a shame they did not think of this need for a maintenance access road when they built the tunnels. Also the sign posts informing people of the closure are not clear enough and you had motorists coming down from Hawkinge and still trying to get onto the slip road causing major gridlock on the Alkham exit roundabout.
I made a lot of phone calls to try and find out what was happening with these road works, and at that time, neither Shepway council nor the highways help line had any details. It took 2 days for them to finally e-mail me with the glossy brochure about the work.
The official diversion is 6.8 miles, which I can understand for juggernauts, but for car commuters from Hawkinge it is so much quicker to not turn left towards the old slip road roundabout on Alkam Road, but carry on down Canterbury Road, then along Churchill Avenue, and join the motorway at the top end of Cherry Garden Avenue.
It is a pity they could not have prepared Crete Road West & Castle Hill as a diversion for cars, and opened that up as a local diversion. Obviously it is not suitable for Trucks and lorries, but for most commuters it would have been a handy temporary alternative.
To have this disruption foisted upon us with only a couple of days warning is a shame. That warning was by way of a road sign. The newspaper adverts regarding the works, did not get published till AFTER the works began!
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